By Bob Findle

Prince Albert for $20 is the Jeopardy answer. Is the question: What is a chewing tobacco brand? Who was Queen Victoria's husband? What is the name of a genital piercing? All three would win the brainy contestant the Andrew Jackson.

“People generally know about the Prince Albert piercing,” says Paul King of Cold Steel America, a piercing and tattoo studio with two locations in San Francisco (coldsteel.co.uk/). “Often though, they mistakenly think that it's the only type of male genital piercing available and use Prince Albert or PA as a blanket
term for all piercing, which isn't correct.”

While the PA is probably the most popular piercing men seek, there are more options.

“Any man considering getting pierced should first get all the information available,” says King. “There are many Internet sites that describe the various piercing types and jewelry, but I like to also refer people to safepiercing.org. It gives a lot of information about safety, health issues, aftercare and what to look for in a piercer.”

There’s a surprise in my pants

Some of the earliest mentions of piercings are in the Kama Sutra, that how-to sex book dating back to around 700AD. A lot of cock has been pierced since then.

“I got my PA about four years ago,” says Les. “I did it because I just wanted to try something exciting and different. It was a very spontaneous thing for me.”

He says most guys he has sex with like the piercing. Some decide to get one of their own.

“My advice,” Les says, “is to start off with one of the smaller gauges, like a 10, and then grow into a bigger size gradually.”

Gauge is the measure of wire thickness. The smaller the number, the thicker the wire. For example, a 10 gauge is a little smaller than 1/8 inch in diameter, while a 4 gauge is a little smaller than 1/4 inch.

Brian, another pierced man, bets most people looking at him would never think he sports meat metal, but he took on his first two piercings in 2001. He now has four.

“My husband was very interested in my piercings when we first saw each other across the steam room at the gym,” he says. “He figured that I wasn't as vanilla as I looked.”

The surprise element is something many pierced guys say they enjoy.

Scott, who has a PA and a guiche, says, “When I am with a guy for the first time, I like to see the reaction when I drop my pants. They are always curious about the how and why. To some, it adds a new element to sex. On the other hand, some guys are turned off by the piercings. If I get a sense from the guy before we hit the bedroom that he may not like the piercings, I tell him up front so there isn't any weirdness.”

Brian laughs when he comments that some guys, when they see his pierced goods, grab their own boys as if they were getting pierced at that very moment.

“They ask, 'Did it hurt?' I answer: 'Think about it. It's a needle in your scrotum. Of course it hurts. But, the immediate pain of piercing is short, while the pleasure of a new captive ring or a barbell lasts a long time.

To pierce or not to pierce

Piercings, says King, are a very personal expression and are sought out by the individual for their own pleasure and erotic presentation. Brian agrees.

“I most certainly got the piercings for body decoration,” he says. “I enjoy how they look and the clinking noise they make. I enjoy the sexual pleasure. One of the sexiest things about my rings is that I can show who I want to, or not. My co-workers have no idea, but my sex partners have a great time with them.”

Is it just gay men doing the dong decorating?

No, says Jim Ward, who has the honor of being dubbed the granddaddy of the modern piercing movement by MTV in a documentary on the subject. In 1975, he opened The Gauntlet, considered the first piercing studio in the United States. Where? West Hollywood, where else? Ward also started publishing Piercing Fans International Quarterly, or PFIQ for short. Although the store closed in 1998 and the magazine stopped publication after 50 issues, the Gauntlet lives on at gauntletenterprises.com Ward is now working on a book about the history of piercing.

“Back in the early '70s, gay men gravitated toward piercing initially through the leather and S/M communities,” Ward says. “I opened the store to meet that interest.”

Once established, Ward says clientele began to include other gay men and then people from the fetish communities, both gay and straight.

“Piercing is across the board today,” he says. “Celebrities helped make that happen. And still do. For example, when Janet Jackson flashed her breast at the 2004 Super Bowl, she was wearing a Gauntlet sunburst nipple shield I
created in the mid-'70s.”

Elayne Angel, owner and founder of Rings of Desire (ringsofdesire.com), a piercing studio in the French Quarter of New Orleans, has been doing the work
since the 1980s. She agrees with Ward about gay men.

“Gay men were the only people really into it initially,” she says. “What is different now is that the media have made more people aware of piercing. The younger generations got interested. Celebrities started doing it. Now, lots of other people are involved, not just gay men.”

Angel's clients include singer Lenny Kravitz, who has had his nostril, nipple and pubic area pierced. She also comments that business is brisk during Southern Decadence, the Labor Day circuit party.

“Lots of gay guys come in and many get a genital piercing,” she says. “There is something about getting your piercing while you are on vacation. Gives you something to remember where you were and what you did.”

Before heading to the piercer

The three men, Les, Brian and Scott, interviewed for this article all agree on several points. You need to trust the person who is about to put a needle in your nipple, your dick or your scrotum; have an idea of what size gauge you want; and do the recommended aftercare and allow healing. You'll be eager to show off your new doodad, but don't rush it. There will be plenty of time for show and tell once everything is all better.